The District school choice system is an open-enrollment system for school assignments and goes through the Student Assignment Office. A lottery process is used to assign students to schools when the number of applicants for a school exceeds the number of available seats. Students’ applications are assigned random numbers to determine the order in which their applications will be considered in the assignment process.[1]

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While Brown v. Board of Education outlawed segregated public schools in 1954, Lee County opted to ignore the ruling. In 1964, a student named Rosalind Blalock attempted to enroll in Fort Myers High School, but was denied admission to the whites-only school. A court case filed on her behalf by the NAACP resulted in a court order that forced Lee County to begin integrating the public schools. Prior to that time, Lee maintained a system that was separate but not equal for minority students. The district proceeded, first by integrating the teachers, then the elementary schools, and finally the high schools. In 1969, traditionally black Dunbar High School was closed, and students were reassigned to various white high schools around the county. The situation was often tense, with a riot breaking out at Fort Myers High School, and administrators at North Fort Myers High School pretended not to recognize a black coach, causing police officers to send attack dogs after him. The court order stayed in place for 35 years, and many of its measures are still in place today.[2]